Displaced Memories
by DuffJessica
Summary: When the monks take Buffy's blood and make Dawn not everyone gets the memories they were supposed to. How will the Hellmouth cope with a very different Dawn Summers?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was just something I threw together after a spark of inspiration. I'm not sure if I should keep going past this chapter so any progress will depend on just how enthusiastic you are to see more.

Update: Made some small minor changes to this chapter leading up to the release of chapter 2.

Chapter One: Hangover Nightmares.

I woke with a hangover, which was weird because I didn't remember drinking the night before. "Dorogoy Bog" I slurred in Russian trying to block the sunlight pouring in through the window. I raised my arm to try and block the light while I looked around the room. It took me a moment to figure out what was wrong. I knew I had been out with friends last night but the room I was in didn't look like their house. The walls were familiar but I couldn't quite figure out where I was. The decorations looked like they belonged in a young girls bedroom complete with a big teddy bear on the bed.

Swinging around I moved to stand when I noticed something else strange. My legs looked shorter for some reason, though it may have just been the hangover. Forcing my self up into a standing position I stumbled over to a full length mirror hung on the wall. Trying to rub the blurriness out of my eyes I stared at the reflection not understanding exactly what I was seeing. The girl staring back through the mirror looked just like me at 14. Not fully understanding exactly what was happening to me I did the only reasonable thing I could think of. I screamed.

By the time the scream had died in my throat someone burst in through the door behind me. I was starting to hyperventilate and my breath became erratic. I sank down to my knees barely hearing the woman who barged in calling out to me. Now completely sitting on the floor I turned my head to look at the other woman in the room. She was saying something but the blood in my ears kept me from hearing what it was. I knew who she was and instantly I recognized the room. What I didn't understand was what the two of us were doing on the set of a canceled television show.

"Kristine? What are we doing here?" I asked trying to get a grip of myself. None of this made any sense. Why did I look like I was a teenager.

The woman in question looked back at me with concern clearly written on her face. "Dawn what's the matter? Why did you call me Kristine?" She asked.

I gaped at her in response not able to form a coherent sentence. Why was she calling me Dawn? I hadn't played that character in ten years. Had Joss decided to shoot something and I got so drunk I forgot? That didn't make any sense. There weren't any cameras in the room in fact a wall was standing where the cameras should have been. Why hadn't I noticed that before? This wasn't the set of a TV show this was an actual bedroom. Looking at the wall on the other side of the bed I noticed a poster for some boy band that I didn't remember ever seeing before on the show. Turning back to the woman in front of me I asked in horror. "Mom?"

The look on the other woman's face broke my heart. This was clearly not Kristine this was Joyce Summers or someone who thought she was. "Did you have a nightmare Dawnie?" She asked me with a soft motherly tone. The concern and love in her voice drove the final nail home. I wasn't dreaming the pain in my head and the ache in my throat from screaming were clear indicators that this wasn't my imagination. But if not then what was it? How could this be real? Surely I hadn't magically become a 14 year old Dawn Summers.

"I don't know." I told her truthfully. I was sure that this wasn't a nightmare even though it should have been. Her look was soft and I had no idea what to say. "Der'mo" I swore under my breath.

"What was that Dawn?" She asked. I was jerked out of my slump. She had heard the curse even if she wouldn't understand it. Even though she wasn't really my mom I felt bad swearing in front of her.

"Sorry." I shook my head trying to clear it. "It's nothing, I'm fine mom." I lied trying to get out of this awkward situation. I needed her to leave the room for a minute so I could try and get everything figured out.

"I'll give you a few minutes sweetie but you need to start getting ready for school." She said with a smile before walking out of the room.

School. She expected me to go to school? Seriously?

Of course she does. To her I'm just a teenager and a bratty teenager at that.

Shakily I got back to my feet. Looking at my reflection I groaned loudly. I had never been particularly busty but the girl in the mirror had almost no curves at all. If I had to be Dawn why couldn't I have been the 16 year old from the final season? Why this age? Why this particular part of Dawn's life?

Now that I thought about it I wasn't sure exactly when this was. Clearly it was sometime in season 5 since Joyce was still alive. Or was it? Could it have been before that? Dawn hadn't been on the show in the first four seasons but maybe in what ever bizzaro world she was in Dawn had existed before then.

I stepped past the mirror to the closet and opened the door. I blanched at the cloths. Had we really dressed like this? I held up the hem of a pair of jeans. The leg flared out wider than anything that was fashionable in 2014. I found a pair of jeans that had straight legs and grabbed a pink shirt from the dresser. I walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to where I knew the bathroom would be. Of all the alternate universes to get stuck in at least I got one that I was familiar with.

After I made it into the bathroom and found a towel something else felt off. Where was Buffy? In the show Buffy and Dawn always seemed to need the shower at the same time and were constantly arguing over it. For that matter I hadn't heard her in the house at all. Deciding not to overlook small mercies I quickly disrobed and hopped in the shower. Trying to avoid getting my hair wet I washed as fast as I could. Naked my teenage body was even less impressive than I hoped. This body was still wearing training bras and the look of my prepubescent chest was mortifying. I wasn't going to turn any heads looking like this. After my shower I dressed and brushed my teeth. Not knowing if Dawn wore makeup or not I didn't bother and went down stairs.

1630 Revello Drive was a quaint suburban house. Walking down the stairs I felt this wave of nostalgia wash over me. This house felt so familiar even though I had never really been here. I made it into the kitchen where Joyce was making something at the stove. Having still not seen any sign of Buffy I assumed that she had left already. I sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen and waited for Joyce to finish whatever she was fixing.

It didn't take long for the older woman to finish and I was quickly staring down at a plate of sausage and pancakes. I poked at the decidedly not kosher sausage as Joyce complained about Buffy leaving too early to walk me to school. I knew that the character I had played was from a protestant family but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do about the food sitting in front of me. Deciding to avoid them for the moment I picked up my fork and began eating the stack of pancakes. I hummed along to Joyce's conversation as she described her day and promised we would go to the mall after school. It was hard for me to fathom what exactly the day was going to be like. I wasn't looking forward to a repeat of 9th grade.

I drifted off not really paying attention to Joyce anymore and started thinking about my friends and family in the real world. Thinking about never seeing my parents made me start to hyperventilate again. I had to force myself to calm down to keep from freaking out Joyce. Choosing to continue to ignore the sausage I got up from my seat and went up stairs. It wasn't hard to find the pink tote bag with school books in it sitting on the desk in my room. I grabbed the bag and a pair of keds tennis shoes and ran down stairs just as Joyce was calling up for me.

After a short drive in Joyce's car we pulled up outside Sunnydale Junior High. I let out a sigh of resignation as the older woman gave me lunch money and I jumped out of the car running toward the school. Beside my sour mood it was a warm sunny day and I had a hard time not feeling at least passably optimistic. I mean seriously how much worse could things get?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I got inspired and decided to write another chapter. I'm trying not to be too accurate to Michelle Tractenberg's real life so there may be some things the I highlight about her past or her personality that don't totally jive. This chapter like the first was completed with out it gracing the eyes of a beta so I apologies for any errors I may have missed. This chapter focuses on what school would have been like for Dawn.

Chapter 2: Junior High

I walked toward Sunnydale Junior High full of dread. Reliving ninth grade was not high on my list of priorities. I barely heard Joyce call after me. I turned just in time to hear her call out that she loved me which was embarrassing but not for the reason that caused the other students around me to laugh. I couldn't care less about the juvenile mockery but it was troubling to hear this woman I didn't really know be so affectionate. I didn't pay attention to anything else she said as she drove away. I was too focused on making it into the school building without collapsing in tears.

Luckily for me this was the first week of school and there was still a class schedule tucked into my bag. Once inside I pulled it out and walked over to one of those emergency route maps on the wall. Just as I found my first period class I heard a voice behind me. "Already lost Summers? Kind of pathetic isn't it? You can't even remember what class you went to yesterday?"

I dreaded turning around but did so anyway. Facing my tormentor I recognized her face but couldn't remember what her name was. When I looked at her I got this image in my head of Charisma Carpenter and understood who this girl was supposed to be. Too bad for her I didn't care if she thought of herself as Cordelia's mini me. I had gotten over the petty squabbles of teenage girls nearly a decade ago. Deciding to ignore the queen bitch's comments I turned and walked away from her. I could hear her calling after me but I didn't pay attention to what she said.

About half way down the hall a girl Dawn's age ran up to me and loped her arm through mine. "Don't listen to her Dawn." She said smiling at me.

It took me a second to remember who this was. None of Dawn's friends had been in the show for more than an episode or two and I was struggling to figure out which one this was. I remembered her name once I recognized the actress who played her. "Thanks Janice." I said giving her one of the few genuine smiles of the morning. I squeezed the arm lopped in mine as we kept walking down the hallway. Despite not liking the situation I was in I appreciated being with someone who cared about me. From what I remembered about the show Janice, while only being seen once, was the only friend of Dawn's brought up more than a had full of times.

Before long Janice and I made it to our first period algebra class. I took a seat directly in front of her and opened my bag looking for a math textbook. The bag while containing both an algebra textbook and a spiral notebook only had one pencil and no sharpener. Letting out a low moan I had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

By the end of class I had of course broken my pencil but Janice loaned me one of hers so I wouldn't be totally helpless the rest of the day. Walking out of class Janice promised to see me at fourth period and we parted ways. I had art for second period which of course was on the other side of the building. I barely made it into class before the bell rang and had to take the only vacant seat. The class had slate topped work benches instead of desks with two students per table. I was sharing my table with an African American girl named Lisa.

Art class was kind of boring and I spent most of the lecture on focal points doodling in my notebook. I wasn't sure how much more of this I would be able to take. I was pretty far outside of dream territory by this point which left me with the sickening feeling that I was stuck in Junior High. The bell shook me out of my self loathing and I got up and followed Lisa out of the class. We happened to share third period Biology and we walked together. I let Lisa do most of the talking since I didn't really know what to tell her about myself. On the way to class we passed quite a few kids who knew me and would call out to me as we passed but I had no idea who they were.

I was completely out of my depth. Most of these kids had memories of Dawn going back several years. I would nod or smile at people who said my name but I tried hard to keep moving hoping that biology class would save me from embarrassing myself.

The class room was only half full when we got there and Lisa and I took seats next to each other. This boy came over and introduced himself to Lisa and started asking me questions about summer vacation. Not knowing what to tell him I just kept my responses simple and avoided anything to specific. He seemed satisfied with my comments and everything seemed like it was going okay until I heard a shrill voice pass by and water spill over my notebook. I heard the shrill voice laugh and I didn't need to turn and look to know it was the girl from this morning. "Watch it Summers. Looks like you spilled something." Said a girl carrying a water bottle. Both the Cordelia wannabe and the girl with the bottle laughed and walked to the back of the class.

The water hadn't gotten on anything but my notebook. Frowning at it I pushed it toward the edge of the desk. Ninth grade was going to kill me. Biology went by without another incident and soon I was sitting next to Janice again only this time in geography class. Feeling sorry for me she lent me a few sheets of paper so that I could at least try to take notes. Fifty minutes later we both headed to our lockers to exchange books for the second half of the day.

"What's up Dawnie?" The girl next to me asked. I looked at her questioningly and leaned against the locker while she got her books. "Don't give me that look. We've known each other since you moved here in fifth grade. I know when somethings up."

"Just a lot on my mind I guess." I said trying to shrug off her concern. I couldn't exactly tell her what was really happening.

She laughed as she closed her locker. "Your sister pretending you don't exist again?" She asked giving me a knowing look. I rolled my eyes at her as we began walking toward the cafeteria.

I guess I need to get used to people thinking of me as the petulant Dawn who desperately wants people to pay attention to her.

We walked through the line of the cafeteria and Janice gave me a strange look when I bought a hamburger and fries. I steered us over to Lisa who was sitting by her self and I introduced her to Janice as we sat down. The three of us chatted about class and what we did over the summer. I mostly stayed quite only to interject when I was sure I knew what they were talking about. Several bites into my hamburger I noticed Janice give me another strange look. "Whats the matter?" I asked popping a french fry in my mouth.

"I thought you gave up eating meat." She said looking at me intently.

Had I? I didn't remember Dawn ever claiming to be a vegetarian. Plus hadn't Joyce made me sausage this morning for breakfast? "I did?" I decided to ask her honestly. Why would Dawn lie to her best friend about giving up meat?

"You called me two weeks ago and told me." She said still giving me that same look. "You were all upset about something you saw on TV about cows."

Chewing on my french fry I tried not to roll my eyes. The whole story sounded like something Dawn would have said to try and get attention. "It was too hard." I said, hoping she wouldn't question my reasoning. "Plus my mom wasn't going to stop cooking meat just because I asked her too." I threw in for good measure and took another bite of my burger. Janice seemed to accept my excuse and didn't say anything else. I let out an inward sigh of relief and thanked what ever god was listening.

Lunch ended and the three of us split up to head to our fifth period class. Much to my surprise my schedule said I had honors English next. I didn't recognize any of the other kids in this class probably because they all had other honors classes. Why would I have only this one honors class? I didn't make sense but there were lots of things about Sunnydale that were weird so why not the schools too. The honors English class went by rather quickly and I had to admit that I actually liked it. My last period of the day was Gym and Janice and I met in the locker room.

Gym class in this body was going to suck. My body was so skinny that any physical exertion was going to be exhausting. Janice and I both had similar work out cloths mainly sweats and a t-shirt. I was lucky that the cloths were already in my locker because I hadn't thought to look for them before leaving the house that morning. Once changed Janice and I hit the track and spent the next hour alternating between jogging and stretching.

"That was awful." I said. We were both sitting in the locker room after our run. "I really need to get in better shape."

"Isn't that the whole point of gym class?" She shot back at me. I had to admit that she was right. Gym class was probably the most exercise kids our age got.

Did I just say 'our age'? I was starting to get a little too comfortable. I guess that the monotony of the school day had lulled me into thinking like a teenager. I wasn't particularly happy with that notion. I needed to remind myself that I wasn't really Dawn Summers. I was a twenty eight year old actress from New York.

Getting up off the bench I decided against changing out of my gym cloths and just stuffed my school cloths into my bag. After walking back to our lockers to grab the rest of our books Janice and I headed out side to wait for our moms to pick us up. Standing around waiting Janice asked me what I was going to do over the weekend. "I don't know." I said shrugging my shoulders. "I'll need to have my mom take me to the store tomorrow to get a new notebook." I pulled out the offending wad of wet paper and grimaced at the loss. If I was stuck here as a fourteen year old I was going to need the notes that had been on those pages.

"I can come over to your house tomorrow and help you copy my notes." She offed with a smile. Not for the first time that day I was reminded how lucky I was that Dawn had a friend like Janice.

"I would appreciate it." I replied giving her a lopsided grin. A few minutes later Joyce pulled up to the curb and I waved good bye to the other brunette girl. "I'll call you later tonight." I promised as I jumped into the passenger side seat of Joyce's car.

"How was school sweetie?" Joyce asked me once we had pulled away from the curb.

"It was okay I guess." I said and then pulled out my notebook. "Though I'm going to need a new notebook." Tapping the object in question with a frown. "Janice said she'd let me my copy her notes though."

"I have to go to the gallery tomorrow so Buffy will have to take you." The older woman said giving me a comforting look over the loss of the notebook.

I'm not sure why but for some reason the thought of Buffy going with me to buy school supplies made me uneasy.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Three chapters in three days is kinda crazy. I'm worried I might spoil you. This chapter is a bit exposition heavy but I needed to get back-story stuff done. Somethings might be skewing a bit from cannon a bit. Its hard to figure out exactly whats going on with Dawn most of the time because the focus is usually on Buffy. Like the last two chapters this hasn't been beta read so there might be mistakes that I missed or failed to correct.

Chapter 3: Keyed to Memory

The ride home was pleasant and Joyce and I engaged in a bit of small talk, mostly about school. I told her about how much I liked my honors English class and that I'd like to take honors history the next year. My first time through high school I had excelled at history and religion so acing the honors or AP exam should be a piece of cake. I had studied Hebrew and new testament Greek so maybe I would try Latin this time around. I already new some church Latin from attending a catholic girls school.

Thinking about my first time in high school made me reflect on all the differences between it and Sunnydale junior high. My real school had been just for girls and focused on a religious education. The uniforms and strict guidelines left little room for the kind of bullying and harassment I had seen today. On a whole it made me appreciate my choices in school all the more.

When we got home the house seemed oddly quite. Joyce offered to make me a sandwich and after nodding yes I went up stairs. Joyce's bedroom and mine were located at the back of the house with Buffy's at the front. I walked down the hall and pushed open the door to Buffy's room to see if she was home. The room that greeted me was nearly empty. There weren't very many cloths in the closet and most of her personal belongings were gone. It wasn't until I saw the UCSunnydale pennant on the wall that I remembered she was in college. So much of the show took place in this house that I had forgotten that she lived on campus.

Closing the door I headed for my own room looking for a distraction. This whole day had been very strange. I was blown away by just how easy it was to slip into being Dawn. I had played her for three years but the show and been off the air for eleven years now and I had played so many other characters that the details of Dawns life were hazy at best. I remembered the big plot points but there were lots of little things that were lost to me. I had a feeling that those little details were going to be what mattered the most.

Getting down on the floor I leaned back against the bed and pulled my feet up under my lap Indian style. I needed to focus. If I really was stuck in this world then I needed to anticipate what was coming. It wouldn't be very healthy to walk around the Hellmouth ignorant of danger. Closing my eyes I tried to remember everything I could about the show. Since Joyce is still alive then it cant be later than season five. Was it earlier than that though? I cant remember when Dawn's birthday was but its pretty clear shes... I'm fourteen. Dawn was fourteen in season five, I was pretty sure, so that meant that this could be season five. Not knowing when Dawn's birthday was made it difficult to pin down. If she would have turned 15 shortly after the season started then it could be a long time from now.

Putting age and time line aside I needed to figure out what I did know for sure about Dawn and the show. Sometime during season five Joyce dies from a brain tumor. Or did she die of something else caused by the brain tumor? I couldn't remember exactly. Some time after her mom dies Buffy sacrifices herself for Dawn.

Thinking of Buffy dieing dislodges a memory form the show that I had completely over looked. Dawn wasn't real, or at least she thinks that at first. There were monks somewhere who needed Buffy to protect something. The key! I remember now. Dawn was made from Buffy so that she would protect the key. That's why she sacrifices herself. So that Dawn doesn't have to jump and close the portal.

So Dawn was made out of Buffy kind of making me her sister or something. I wasn't sure how that worked genetically. Dawn and Buffy were similar enough that Buffy was able to close the portal. Since the monks had made the key into Dawn they gave everyone in Sunnydale false memories of me so that they wouldn't question why I was here.

My next thought just about gave me an aneurysm. If they gave everyone else fake memories of Dawn then where would Dawn's memories have come from? They would have had to carefully create her entire personality. Every thought she ever had and every decision she had made up to that point. The process most have been immensely complex. No act of Dawn's could have contradicted something that happened in the real world or people would reject the memory. Or at least I think so. I wasn't exactly a neurologist or anything. It seemed to me that it would have taken years of planning and extensive research to pull something like that off.

But what if they didn't have time? I didn't remember enough about what happened with the monks in the show so I couldn't say for certain. What would happen if the monks were rushed to make Dawn? Where would those memories come from?

I had a sick feeling that I knew the answer. And I was proof of that. If this was just at the beginning of season five then Dawn would have literally just been put into existence. Like last night while I slept.

I had no proof to say otherwise and the evidence seemed to all point to that conclusion. So what was I exactly? Was I actually a fourteen year old Dawn Summers I just had someone else's memories? I was unfortunately inclined to believe it. Everything I knew about this world indicated that it was perfectly possible.

Letting out a deep sigh I slumped back against the bed. My hand had slid behind me under the bed colliding with a rather hard object. What would I put under there? Turning and looking underneath I saw what looked like a giant book. The size reminded me of the oversized research tomes at the library. The cover and spine were made of leather and there was gold lettering on the spine. Pulling it out from under the bed I opened the cover. Tucked inside was a folded piece of paper. It was a note from Giles telling her that he would missed her and that she shouldn't give up her studies. He had given this to Dawn. No he gave it to me. I was going to have to get over separating Dawn from myself. The note said that with enough training and research I would make a promising Watcher one day.

This was unexpected, I didn't remember Giles training Dawn to be a watcher. I had done a lot of research into demonology on the show. I even think I remember saying something about learning Sumerian. Maybe this was where that started. The show had focused on Buffy and never really showed how Dawn learned most of the stuff she knew in the later seasons. It made since now that I thought about it. Giles would have had to start getting her involved fairly early on.

Taking the book with me I headed down stairs to find a comfy place to read. It made since to get cracking on the demon lore as soon as possible. The book I learned after leafing through the first few pages was about the slayer and detailed her origin myth. I had a hard time grasping the idea that the slayer dated back almost as far as mankind it self. A few pages into the book and I found Giles 'into every generation' quote. The actual line in the book was a bit longer and described the shadow men and how they formed together to bind the slayer to a human girl. The book described the slayer like it was a demon or some other ancient creature that had been tamed for the purpose of empowering their champion.

While I was reading I heard Buffy come in through the front door. She was talking to mom about taking me shopping the next day. She didn't exactly sound thrilled.

"Dawn what are you reading?" Buffy asked me as she came into the living room.

Lifting the tome I showed her the spine. "It's called The Legend Of The Vampire Slayer." I told her while putting it back in my lap and continuing to read. What came next was shocking to me. Buffy took two steps toward me and reached out to snatch the book away from me.

"You can't read that Dawn." She said still reaching for my book. In that moment I felt nothing but contempt for this person who was supposed to be my sister. I clutched the book to my chest and ducked under her arm.

"It's just a book Buffy." I declared backing toward the stars. "What do you think is going to happen?" I asked my voice full of uncertainty and disbelief. "Do you think the evil god of literature is going to smite me for having the audacity to read?"

"You shouldn't be reading anything like that." She said turning toward me and continuing to reach for the book. "You have no right to be reading any of that stuff."

"Who made you the queen of the universe Buffy." I spat back still retreating toward the stairs. Not letting her get an upper hand I turned and sprinted up the stars and slammed my bedroom door shut.

Who the hell did she think she was? The book wasn't cursed or anything. Giles wouldn't have given me a book that could hurt me. This was a book about slayers not a spell book or anything. It was not much more than a history book or a biography.

Making sure to lock my door I slid the book back under my bed. I guess I knew the reason it had been hidden under there now. I felt bad about snapping at Buffy like that but she had been a bit overprotective on the show. She was probably just trying to keep me out of her world so I wouldn't be in danger. It still didn't mean she should treat me that way. Not that trying to protect me would do much good. So many demons and vampires came through Sunnydale that no one was safe much less the sister of the slayer.

I needed to distract my self so I went over to the table next to my bed where a telephone was sitting. Hopefully I had Janice's number written down. I had promised her I would call but now I wasn't sure if I would be able too. The night stand the phone was sitting on had a drawer but it didn't have a contact book or anything. Maybe it would be in one of my desk drawers. The pink desk had lots of small drawers and little nooks where you could stash stuff.

Walking over to the desk I passed the mirror on the wall and noticed a picture of me and Janice at the beach. The wallet sized photo was stuck into the frame of the mirror. We both looked really happy in the picture. It must have been taken during the summer since it looked like we were both sunbathing. We had big hats on and I was wearing a one piece swim suite and Janice was wearing a bikini. Our arms were draped over each others shoulders except the arm Janice was using to hold the camera. Turning the picture over in my fingers I could see delicate script spelling our names with a big heart and a phone number. The number was written in my hand writing while our names and the heart must have been written by Janice.

Why would I write my best friend's phone number on the back of a picture? It almost seemed like I was hiding it. I would have to ask Janice about it later. Instead I walked over to the phone and dialed. I only had to wait a few rings before Janice answered the phone.

"Hi." She responded as soon as she picked up the phone. "I didn't think you'd call till later."

"I just needed to talk to someone." I said truthfully.

"Buffy?" She questioned. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Am I that predictable?" I asked back and rolled my eyes. There was a reason someone became your best friend and Janice was firing on all cylinders today.

I could hear her giggle on the other end. "Do I even need to dignify that with a response?" She joked.

We talked for another half an hour until my mom called me down for dinner. "I'll see you tomorrow. Moms calling for me." I explained before hanging up. Before leaving my room I tried hiding the book behind some shoe boxes under my bed. I needed to talk to Giles about that book. Surely if he wanted me to have it that he could explain it to Buffy. If not it was going to be a long year.


End file.
